Xbox One: So That's Why 'Xbox' Sounds So Vague

The name “Xbox,” like “iPod,” has the wonderful power of not being too specific. Apple’s first device to bear that moniker didn’t do much more than play music, but the iPod touch is an all-purpose computer — and in the same way, the Xbox One that Microsoft unveiled Tuesday will do far more than play video games.

Don’t call it a game console. Instead, Microsoft pitches the Xbox One as an “all-in-one home entertainment system” that will let you and your TV “have a relationship.”

But Microsoft also wants to present a smarter front end to the hundreds of TV channels most of us watch today through a separate box. Instead of seeing the same old endless program grid, the One will provide personalized recommendations and allow you to control the TV and the DVR with voice commands or a remote-control app on your phone or tablet.

The idea is that you’d run one HDMI cable from your cable or satellite box to the One, then run another one from there to your TV. The One, in turn, would use the Kinect’s IR sensor to send commands to the cable or satellite box.

Microsoft could ease its job by only supporting major cable and satellite operators, but it says it wants to “enable live TV through Xbox One in every way that it is delivered throughout the world.”

That’s a tall order. Meanwhile, many of you — especially those who have ditched cable or satellite TV — may already have something close to an all-in-one home entertainment system: the tablet or laptop on the coffee table.